It seemed my post on the longevity of ferrets is being misinterpreted,
and reading it again after I sent it out the fault is all mine because
I goofed in the narrative. Of the 164 ferrets surveyed who have
provided their approximate date of birth the following stats are
correct, within the data collected:

Ferrets living...
greater than 1 year, 124, 70%
greater than 2 years, 82, 47%
greater than 3 years, 59, 34%
greater than 4 years, 45, 26%
greater than 5 years, 33, 19%
greater than 6 years, 16,  9%
greater than 7 years,  5,  3%
greater than 8 years,  1,  1%
greater than 9 years   1,  1%

I noted in the footnote that all but 22 of these ferrets are still
living and of those 22 most of them (63%) were 5 years or older when
the journeyed over the bridge. The listing above states of the 164
total ferrets included in the sample 124 are older than 1 year and all
of the subsequent age groupings are subsets of the previous set noted.
The inclusion of the 40 kits less than a year bring the set up to 100%.
If the the 63% bears out in the larger data yet to be collected 63% of
the 142 living ferrets included in this analysis, about 90 of them
would easily enjoy life beyond 5 years.

It was late when I wrote the post so rather than a Big Ferret Factoid,
it would be better classified as a Big Ferret Flub Up! Thank you to
those who sent me notes questioning my editorial comments and keeping
me straight.

For true lifespan statistics BF3 does need data on the ferrets we have
loved and said goodbye to, and my hope is that there are caregivers out
there who keep pretty good records whether you run a shelter or not. As
I have talked to other ferret owners and read various forum postings
and articles, it is pretty obvious that ferret owners are far more
attentive to these kinds of record keeping than say dog or cat owners.
I would venture a guess that is because since ferrets do have a shorter
life span, we tend to have 3 or more at any given time ranging in ages,
and for experienced ferret owners caring for the ailments of geriatric
ferrets is a familiar reality. In spite of all that, it is hard to find
objective tabulations of what we all instinctively know to be true
about these delightful creatures we're captivated by and the hope of
the Big Ferret Fact Finder is to help us gather real numbers related
to what our instincts tell us.

Something tells me by the response of the ferret community,
particularly over the last 5 days, during which the database has
increased by 330%, that I'm not the only one with this curiosity and it
is all of you who are taking the time to enter this information in is
what makes this project meaningful! As for me I have some serious data
collating to try and get week 3 results posted to the blog as well as
add several of the great suggestions to improve the survey all in the
midst of a busy weekend coming up. All in good time!

Thank you again. Keep it coming!

Kenny Mayne
http://ferretfactfinder.blogspot.com/

[Posted in FML 6154]